The darkening of the sky seemed to come quicker and quicker, silently overtaking the sun until only the street lights provided guidance home. Chanyeol could have sworn it was only mid afternoon just moments ago, yet the moon was high in the sky and night covered the world in a thick blanket. With a silent sigh he glances up at the clock in the library. It was nearly 2am which means he’ll be kicked out of the library soon. Rubbing at his eyes it’s almost unbelievable that he had spent nearly ten hours in the library studying. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice if he wanted to pass his classes.
It was a lot when you had to wait for your class to be transcribed and sent as a video to you, too bad attendance counted as a grade because it was like he was practically attending twice. He doesn’t get much out of the actual class itself. Sure he gets notes ahead of time, but his ability to keep up with the lesson is probably at 40% and that was giving him a pretty generous percentage. In order not to fall behind Chanyeol has to read the notes ahead of time, make his own during the class of what he can understand ( when the professor doesn’t have their back turned to him or something covering their mouth ), wait for the class to be transcribed, watch the lecture all over again and take better notes, and then study from the textbook doing the assigned homework and projects.
Chanyeol had no life outside of class and the library, he wonders if he should just live in here to save money on room and board, it wasn’t as if he saw his dorm very often. Maybe if he was lucky he’d get five hours of sleep before the next class where he repeats the cycle all again.
A tap on his shoulder brings him out of his thoughts and he sighs a little bit as he’s told the library is closing and he’ll have to head out. Collecting his things he yawns a bit as he makes his way to the bus stop. The walk home isn’t very far, but the night was cold, he was exhausted, and if he was lucky he could get a seat and sleep for a bit.
It seems he wasn’t so lucky. Stepping onto the bus he wedges himself between people as it was pretty crowded. Guess he wasn’t the only one up all hours of the night. Taking his hand off the bar he rubs at his eyes to try and get the sleep out of them while his other hand fishes for his phone. Rather unluckily the bus comes to an abrupt stop as a car tries to cut it off and Chanyeol is wide eyed as he looses his balance and knocks into the man in front of him. Trying to steady himself out he’s unable to manage and falls flat on his ass. Fuck– where was his phone so he could apologize?
The breaks screech and structure of the old bus whines loudly with the sudden lurch, but hanbyul has barely enough time to process all that before someone slams into him, stealing his breath and balance away at the same time. It’s a miracle that only the other had fallen to the ground. Wincing slightly at the pain blooming along his arm, Hanbyul spends a moment to nurse it before turning his attention to the stranger who honestly, looked as if he’d lost his marbles. What was he still doing on the floor? Any normal person would get up as quickly as possible, perhaps adorning a sheepish laugh and smile, or cheeks dusted with embarrassment. Anger was also a popular alternative. This stranger however, was different and pleasantly odd.
“Are you okay?” Hanbyul asks after observing the other for a bit. Wide eyes were panicked and scanning the deck for something (maybe he really did lose some marbles), but when he traced the other’s gaze, he found nothing but bits of dirt and blackened gum. It didn’t help either that everyone was just staring and the bus had started moving again. Hanbyul was sure the rattling and vibration of the engine would do little to ease the panic that the other was going through. Taking a step back to crouch down, he makes sure to hold onto a bar so that he doesn’t join the other in a rendezvous on the ground should the bus lurch again.
Reaching out to touch the other’s shoulder, he repeats his question. “Are you okay?” That was the extent of his concern. No one was offering any help and his nursing instincts somehow kicked in. “Did you sprain something?” he adds, wondering if the other couldn’t stand because he’d injured a limb or a joint.
But silence was his only reply. That, and perhaps a giggle of amusement from those who resided in heaven because he felt the bus lurching again and this time, he hears an uncomfortable crunch coming from underfoot. Oh. The dots are joined and grimaces when he moves his foot and laid his eyes on a phone that clearly looked like it had seen better days. In his stead to break his fall for a second time, Hanbyul had stepped on what was probably this stranger’s phone. Offering the shattered phone up to the stranger with an awkward quirk of apology on his lips, he had only one thing to say; a word that was unfamiliar to his existence. “Sorry…”